Grilled Cheese Restaurants

5 Very (Grilled) Cheesy Sandwich Spots

Grilled cheese sandwiches are one of our all-time favorite foods and it looks like OnSugar blogger Nancy, of Between the Bread, loves them too. Here, she shares her favorite spots for enjoying a scrumptious grilled cheese.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are one of the great American comfort foods: almost all of us have memories of someone we love grilling up cheese sammies with care. Not surprisingly, this delicious simplicity lends itself to nostalgic one-upmanship and friendly competition, including an annual Grilled Cheese Invitational and my own local Grilled Cheese-Off.

The very basic requirements — bread, cheese, meltiness — lend themselves to countless creative combinations, resulting in another modern grilled cheese phenomenon: the grilled cheese sandwich-centric restaurant. Check out five temples to the tasty classic after the jump.

American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco. People line up for hours to taste the gourmet offerings, including the Piglet (sharp cheddar, cured ham, apple mustard, rosemary butter) and the Moscone: fresh mozzarella, fontina, roasted tomatoes, basil-lavender pesto, and kalamata olive tapenade. But my experience here was just OK.

The Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ, is a souped-up soda fountain with 31 flavors of grilled cheese sandwiches on its very extensive menu. Choices range from brie and asparagus to American cheese, chopped beef, and onions on a soft pretzel.

The Grilled Cheese Truck in LA, one of five food trucks I need to try, offers the added novelty of wheels. This joint also does the mac and cheese thing, as well as more gourmet versions with fancy cheese.

Melt Bar and Grilled outside of Cleveland is very serious about grilled cheese, inviting customers to tattoo themselves with the restaurant's logo and challenging eaters to this monstrous melt (pictured), featuring 13 different cheeses and three layers of bread, served with a pile of fries.